Game of Thrones: Season 7 Episode 7 (Review) – Winter is Here

Well, here we are. We have come to the end of Season 7 of Game of Thrones. We waited such a long time for the first episode of this season of television and the season has come and gone in a flash. ‘The Dragon and the Wolf’ was the title of the season finale and I would be lying if I said I was not thinking about this episode daily since the magnificent ‘Beyond the Wall’ ended. I was expecting a strong end to this season and believed that ‘The Dragon and the Wolf’ would give us closure to the story arcs that needed it while, at the same time, setting the stage for Season 8 of Game of Thrones.

My Thoughts on Season 7 Episode 7 of Game of Thrones

It has been a couple of weeks since I saw ‘The Dragon and the Wolf’ (sorry for the wait for this review) and I still believe that this episode was a fantastic finale to an amazing season of Game of Thrones. The episode began in King’s Landing where the meeting between Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) and Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) would take place. A lot of great character interactions took place prior to this meeting.

Podrick Payne (Daniel Portman), Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) and Bronn (Jerome Flynn) were reunited and this took me back to the earlier seasons of Game of Thrones where these three characters had such great chemistry with one another. Even after all there time apart, it felt like nothing had changed and it was great to see them all together again, even if they now have different allegiances.

Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) and The Hound (Rory McCann) were also reunited after their battle at the end of Season 4 of Game of Thrones. Obviously, both were shocked to see each other again but, after some awkward tension, they bonded over Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) and it was great to see that The Hound was still looking out for her. I hope to see more of these two characters together in Season 8, especially if Tormund Giantsbane (Kristofer Hivju) is involved if he survived the end of ‘The Dragon and the Wolf’ (more on that later).

The meeting at the Dragonpit was very tense. We saw major characters meet each other for the very first time and saw reunions which were much less loving than the ones discussed above. The main reason for this meeting was for Jon Snow (Kit Harington) to show Cersei proof of the existence of the White Walkers and call for an alliance to fight this common enemy. There were twists and turns throughout this meeting. We thought that both sides came to an understanding before Jon Snow did the honourable thing and tell the truth regarding his allegiance to Daenerys.

Needless to say, this did not go down well with either side but it fitted with how honourable yet naive Jon is as a character in Game of Thrones. Because of Jon’s stance, Tyrion tried to salvage the situation by having a private conversation with Cersei. Now, these two are not exactly siblings who love each other and the animosity that Cersei has for Tyrion really came to the forefront in this scene. Peter Dinklage and Lena Headey are arguably the two best actors in Game of Thrones and seeing them share a scene together for the first time since Season 4 was brilliant to watch. They brought so much to this episode.

Despite the divide between Cersei and Tyrion, you can tell that they respect each other and, at the end of their conversation, you thought that they would reach an understanding, especially as Tyrion found out that Cersei is pregnant. Originally, I thought that Cersei was lying about her pregnancy but, after watching ‘The Dragon and the Wolf’, it does seem that she is legitimately pregnant. This seemed to be the driving force for Cersei to form an alliance with Daenerys to combat the White Walkers.

However, we found out later in ‘The Dragon and the Wolf’ that she was playing everyone for fools, including Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). Indeed, seeing Euron Greyjoy (Pilou Asbæk) flee after seeing the White Walker was all an act. His true purpose is to sail to Essos to recruit the Golden Company who are mercenary soldiers that will serve Cersei and they will not get involved in the war against the White Walkers. Instead, her plan is to let both sides kill each other which, in her mind, will leave no one left to oppose her.

Evidently, she is still playing the Game of Thrones which just confirms how deranged, irrational and, to some extent, mad she has become. Her inability to see the wider picture will be her undoing and we have seen that already in the fact that her decision was the final straw for Jaime. Finally, he has left Cersei and is heading to Winterfell. In doing so, he is doing both the right thing and fulfilling the promise to fight the White Walkers. I am really interested to see his role in Season 8 of Game of Thrones.

A character whose role in Season 8 of Game of Thrones could be very fulfilling is Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen). His scene with Jon was a fantastic character moment for him, especially as it was a big factor for him to find some courage and embark on a mission to save his sister, Yara Greyjoy (Gemma Whelan). While I do believe that this will lead to his death in Season 8, I am more relieved than pleased that Theon has finally regained some pride after all his deserved trials and tribulations. The journey he goes on in Season 8 of Game of Thrones could finally end his story on a heroic note.

One story-line in Season 7 of Game of Thrones that ended on a fantastic note was the story at Winterfell. ‘The Dragon and the Wolf’ gave us such a brilliant conclusion to this story-line since Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) finally got what he deserved; death. I have previously predicted that Littlefinger would die this season and that Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright) would have a role to play in his demise. Indeed, Bran confronted Littlefinger regarding his betrayal of Ned Stark (Sean Bean) in Season 1 of Game of Thrones which put the final nail in Littlefinger’s coffin.

For me, the key to Littlefinger’s demise was the conversation that he had with Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) in this episode of Game of Thrones. Littlefinger teaching Sansa about his “game” proved that Littlefinger overplayed his hand as it led Sansa to figuring out the truth. She applied the rules of the game to Littlefinger and it played into the conversation in the hall at Winterfell where she states that while she is a slow learner, she learns. She finally understood that Littlefinger was pitting her against Arya and the twist in the hall was brilliant to see.

Obviously, Sansa made peace with Arya off-screen and they conspired with Bran to finally play Littlefinger for a fool. I have to say, seeing Littlefinger go out in such a pathetic and snivelling manner was a perfect way for this character to bow out of Game of Thrones. He finally fell off the ladder and it filled my heart with joy. Moreover, the conversation that Arya and Sansa had towards the end of ‘The Dragon and the Wolf’ was also very fulfilling, especially when they were reminiscing about their father. While these two never had and never will have a close relationship, you can see that the mutual respect between them is very strong and it will be good to see these two as a united force next season.

Still, the only thing that we were talking about after this episode ended was the fact that R + L = J is finally 100% confirmed, i.e. Jon Snow is a Targaryen. The revelation came about once Samwell Tarly (John Bradley) arrived at Winterfell and reunited with Bran. They put their knowledge together and, in doing so, they realised that the foundation of Robert’s Rebellion was a lie and we found out that Jon Snow’s real name is Aegon Targaryen, named after Aegon the Conqueror.

Indeed, Jon is a true Targaryen and, in this sense, he has a much stronger claim to the Iron Throne than Daenerys. Of course, as all of this is playing out, we see Jon and Daenerys getting together. I am confident that, once Jon discovers the truth, this will cause issues with Daenerys despite the common goal they have of defeating the White Walkers. Daenerys’ whole purpose throughout Game of Thrones has been to rule Westeros and once that is under threat, she may react in a negative way or lose purpose which could lead to her death next season.

While the inevitable revelation will be a huge shock to many, I hope that everyone will come together to fight the White Walkers. This better happen after seeing The Wall come down thanks to an undead Viserion at the end of ‘The Dragon and the Wolf’. While I suspected this was going to happen for quite some time, it was still awesome to see and it sets up Season 8 of Game of Thrones so well. The more I think about it, the more I believe that Season 7 was Part 1 to Season 8’s Part 2 and it just sucks that we now have to wait more than a year for the last season of Game of Thrones to arrive. Still, ‘The Dragon and the Wolf’ ended this fantastic season of TV in a brilliant way.